Exodus 16

The Explanation

One month has passed since Israel walked out of Egypt. One month of sand, rocks and heat. The bread they brought from Egypt is gone, and their stomachs are empty. And then something happens that you might not expect from people who just saw the sea open up for them: they start grumbling.

Listen to what they say: "We wish that we had died by Yahweh's hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots, when we ate our fill of bread." They remember Egypt as a place with full pots and good bread. They forget the whips and the slavery. Hunger does strange things to your memory.

Moses says something sharp to them. Your grumbling is not really against Aaron and me, he says. It goes past us, straight to God. That must have been quiet for a moment.

But God does not answer with anger. He answers with food. That evening quail cover the camp, birds everywhere, more than enough meat. And the next morning, when the dew has dried up, the ground is covered with something small and round and white, like frost. The people look at it and say to each other: "What is it?" They really have no idea. Moses says: this is the bread God gives you.

There are rules with this bread. Everyone gathers exactly as much as he needs, one omer per person. And here is the strange part: whoever gathered a lot had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. It came out even. Nobody was allowed to keep any until the next morning, because then it would breed worms and stink. Some people tried it anyway. It stank.

On the sixth day something different happens. Then they gather double, and that leftover portion does not spoil, because the seventh day is Sabbath, a rest day for God. No manna falls on that day. A few people go out looking anyway. They come back with empty hands.

They called the bread manna. It tasted like thin cakes with honey. And they ate it for forty years, every single day, until they reached the land God had promised them.

What Does This Mean?

God says something remarkable in verse 4: he gives the bread "that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not." So the manna is not only food. It is a lesson that lasts forty years.

What is the lesson? That you can only get enough for today. You cannot store God up. Tomorrow you have to trust him again, and the day after that too. That is uncomfortable. It would be much safer to have a full cupboard. But God wants a people who come to him every morning, not a people who only need him once and then manage on their own.

And notice how God reacts to the grumbling. He hears it, four times the text says he hears it, and he does not pretend it did not happen. But then he does not punish. He feeds. That says something enormous about who God is. He can handle honest complaining better than we sometimes think. Only he answers in a way that changes you.

There is something the text does not explain, and I will not pretend it does. Why does God test people who are starving? Would it not be kinder to just give plenty and be done with it? The Bible leaves that question open. Maybe because being cared for daily is worth more than a full storeroom.

The Common Thread

Israel is on its way to the land God swore to give them. That is the covenant, God's binding promise to be their God and to bring them home. The manna is the proof that he keeps that promise every single morning for forty years.

Much later Jesus stands in front of a crowd and says he himself is the bread from heaven. That is a bold thing to say. Manna kept people alive in the desert for a while. Jesus gives a life that does not end. And do you remember what he taught people to pray? Give us today our daily bread. Today. Not enough for a year. Just today, from the Father who hears grumbling and still gives.

For You

You probably know the feeling of wanting to have everything settled. Enough friends, good enough grades, certainty that next year will be fine. Nobody hands you a guarantee like that. God gives you today, and asks you to trust him for tomorrow.

Try this. Tomorrow morning, before you get up, name one thing you need for that day. Just that day. And ask him for it. Then look back in the evening and see what came.

And one more thing. When you complain, complain to God, not just about him behind his back. He hears it either way. He would rather have you come close.

Talk About It

Why do you think God did not let the people store up manna, even though that would have felt so much safer?

Israel remembered Egypt as better than it really was. When do you make something in the past look better than it was?

Praying Together

God, you heard your people grumble and you gave them bread anyway. Thank you that you can handle our complaining. Give us what we need for today, and help us to trust you again tomorrow. Amen.